Roger Creager brings the party along with new tour

Roger Creager will perform Friday at Midnight Rodeo as part of his Texas Fiesta tour.

If the guy challenging you to play washers at Friday’s Roger Creager concert looks familiar, you might just have seen him on stage.

Texas country star Creager’s new Texas Fiesta tour — which rolls into Midnight Rodeo on Friday — has him interacting with his fans more than ever.

“We’re doing a Texas-themed tailgate party,” Creager said. “I’m a big Jimmy Buffett fan, and I love the way he was able to create his own little world about the tropics and beaches.

“When you go to a Jimmy Buffett concert, there are people in the parking lot with grass skirts and coconut bras, mixing margaritas in the lot,” he said. “We’re trying to create that kind of thing, but inside the bar.”

Frequently, Creager will decorate the stage with pinatas — which must later be smashed, of course — and set up a washer pit where he’ll take on all comers. And he never wins, so the promise of a free CD to the winner is always fulfilled.

Creager — whose new single, “For You I Do,” will be released by the end of the month — even rewards fans who come early to the show with a pre-concert acoustic show.

“It’s just a short set — whatever the crowd wants to hear, maybe some songs we’re not going to play with the full band, maybe some new songs. A little of all of the above,” he said.

Creager has been tweaking the idea for the past six months, but he thinks it’s already a hit.

“I don’t know if we’re trying to entertain the crowd or ourselves, but when we get into it, we find that it entertains us both,” he said.

Of course, it also means more work for the singer.

“It’s OK,” he said. “Like most things in life, you get out what you put in, and I’m getting a lot out of this.”

how to go

o What: Roger Creager

o When: 10 p.m. Friday

o Where: Midnight Rodeo, 4400 S. Georgia St.

o How much: $8 in advance, $10 day of show for ages 21 and older, $12 day of show for ages 18 to 20, plus service charge